UK airports are facing further disruption on Wednesday, 9 September, after a technical glitch in the country’s air traffic control system caused widespread cancellations and delays, with more than 250 flights scrapped as airlines work to recover from Tuesday’s disruption. The latest cancellations bring the total number of flights affected across Tuesday and Wednesday to more than 1,500.
The problem affected the National Air Traffic Services (NATS), which experienced an issue with its flight data processing system. Although the technical problem was resolved, the disruption continued to affect airports as airlines dealt with the backlog of flights.
We apologise again for the disruption caused.
— NATS (@NATS) September 8, 2026
Passengers should check with their airline on the status of their flight tonight or tomorrow. (2/2)
“Work is continuing to assist airlines and airports recover from today’s disruption,” NATS posted on X. “This has been a very complex recovery and has created difficulties for the whole aviation network, from which it will take time to recover,” the organisation said.
FlightRadar24 said 177 flights scheduled for Wednesday had already been cancelled, following around 1,300 cancellations to and from UK airports on Tuesday, 8 September. Nearly all of Wednesday’s cancelled flights were at London Heathrow, the country’s busiest airport.
Heathrow said flights had resumed after the technical issue forced it to suspend air traffic on Tuesday. However, the airport warned that “disruption may continue as airlines reposition aircraft and crew” and advised passengers to check with their airline to confirm that their flight is operating before travelling to the airport.
Chaos at Heathrow Terminal 4 after the airport suspended all flights pic.twitter.com/OTdRIaQV18
— Areeb Ullah (@are_eb) September 8, 2026
The disruption was also reported at Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Edinburgh airports. Dublin Airport in Ireland said it had cancelled dozens of flights as a result of the disruption affecting the UK aviation network.
British Airways said it had been forced to cancel or divert more than 100 flights, affecting tens of thousands of customers. Ryanair said more than 65,000 passengers had been disrupted and that it had cancelled more than 50 flights.
Inbound flights to London airports + Manchester + Birmingham looking very different tonight compared to last Tuesday.
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) September 8, 2026
More than 1,000 flights have been canceled at UK airports following a technical failure at a NATS ATC facility earlier today. pic.twitter.com/9HU2Rv7PSY
Passengers were left facing long waits at airports. One traveller at Gatwick, healthcare worker Josie Donoghue, said she had to leave her flight to Ireland after spending three hours stuck on the runway.
“It’s just an absolute nightmare down there,” she told UK’s domestic Press Association news agency. She described getting through the airport as “like trying to get out of Alcatraz.”
The latest disruption has also renewed criticism of NATS following previous technical problems. Britain experienced a major air traffic control failure in 2023 that affected more than 700,000 passengers, while another technical glitch in July 2025 resulted in flight disruptions for more than four hours.
Ryanair's Chief Operations Officer Neal McMahon calls out NATS CEO Martin Rolfe's incompetence with yet another UK ATC System Failure‼️ pic.twitter.com/zumRFgOw2A
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) September 8, 2026
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was “seeking assurances that lessons will be learned and systems that support aviation are up to the job.” Meanwhile, Ryanair chief operating officer Neal McMahon renewed calls for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to be fired, accusing him of having “failed UK travellers.”
With the air traffic control system operational again, airports and airlines are now working through the consequences of Tuesday’s failure, but passengers have been warned that disruption will continue while the network recovers.
